Copyright © 2000 NLThomas
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CHIAPAS - On December 28, 1999, four members of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) and 1000 members of Las Abejas (The Bees) Civil Society walked 15 miles through the highland county of Chenalho, calling on the personnel in four military installations and the county government to transform their hearts from ways of war and injustice to ways of life and peace.

The "Pilgrimage for the Renewal of Our Hearts" began in the refugee community of Acteal in the cool, hazy morning, and wound through the hills of Chenalho county for the next seven hours, directly past the four army camps.

About 9 a.m., at the Majomut army "civic action" camp, hundreds of participants crowded onto the base. A spokesman for Las Abejas proclaimed to the press, soldiers, and "all the peoples of the world," that the purpose of the march was "so that there will be no more deaths of innocents."

"We cannot talk of peace and want war, we cannot seek reconciliation and provoke violence with the presence of weapons, we cannot live in the land of justice while militarization increases," the spokesman said, reading from a prepared press release.

The four CPTers joined two Abejas in planting corn at the entrance to the base to symbolically reclaim the land. "We want to plant and harvest our mother earth in peace, free from military camps," the Abejas' statement continued.

Members of Las Abejas surprised the soldiers by handing them lighted candles and a leaflet challenging them to disarm and leave with the words, "You know there is not tranquillity while you walk provoking with your weapons,"

The strongly worded statements and the mass of indigenous men and women kneeling on the base in prayer directly contradicted an assertion made by a general at the Majomut camp to CPTers a few weeks previously, that the local people appreciate the role of the military in keeping peace and providing social services.

Accompanied by guitar, accordion, and song, the procession continued under the bright midday sun, and the witness was repeated at bases in Yapteclum, Las Limas, and Chenalho.

When members of the group reached the town of Chenalho shortly after 3 p.m., they processed around the block before concluding the pilgrimage in the town square. Again, the Abejas statement was read. The participants then crowded into the incense-filled church for final prayers. As thick clouds moved in, a band outside summoned those who still had energy to dance.

The "Pilgrimage for the Renewal of Our Hearts," took place on the day the church has designated as the "Feast of the Holy Innocents," which commemorates the slaughter of the baby boys that King Herod decreed in the biblical account (Matt. 2:13-18). As Herod felt threatened by the birth of Jesus, so the government of Mexico has felt threatened by the indigenous people of Chiapas like the pacifist Abejas, who are raising a voice for justice and peace in the region. The Chiapas state and Chenalho county governments were implicated in the more recent slaughter of innocents that occurred two years ago as 45 members of Las Abejas -- mostly women and children -- were killed as they fasted and prayed in Acteal.

As many Christians hope that the turn of the millennium will inspire "Jubilee" actions that help bring peace to the world, the CPT team in Chiapas is encouraging CPT supporters in the U.S. and Canada to hold public witnesses at military installations or defense-related industries in the states or provinces where they live. Like the Abejas, CPT sees the presence of military in the U.S. as well as in Mexico as contributing to violence rather than providing security.